We unlocked League Challenges at VI PC Builder & Games last quarter. Challenges are the first stepping stone toward earning your seat on the Worlds stage and to compete to be the very best in the Pokémon TCG universe.

I have run two so far and I have to admit: I haven’t enjoyed them very much.

Challenges are tough. Everything I’ve helped to build in Duncan prior to championship games has been to foster fun for a community. Championship games are very strict and by the book.

I can still remember the first penalty I had to hand out. It was a Junior player. They were battling against a Master. Juniors are generally younger than 12 and Masters are 17 and older.

The Junior’s hands were so small that they struggled to handle a near-full deck of sleeved cards. In their struggle to shuffle they up-ended their deck and some of their deck cards landed face-up on the floor. Because they (and everyone else) could see which cards were in their deck and not yet on the table or in their prize cards, I had to deal out a two prize penalty in favor of their opponent.

The look on the Junior’s face, as I kindly explained that they need to be very careful with how they handle their cards, bothered me. They were not used to me being so hard. Neither was I.

When you take your Judge exam you’re just asked a few multiple choice questions. Get eight out of ten answers correct and you get to call yourself an authority on how the game is played. Nothing in the Judge’s manual prepares you for the social pressure or expectations of your peers.

For example, I studied all of the materials for passing my exam multiple times. I still forget the rules and details. It pains me to have other, more experienced judges at their play tables stop their games to call out and intercept a bad call from me. I am grateful for their help but feel embarrassed nonetheless.

I also do not find de-escalating upset players who are almost yelling at their opponents to feel all that fun, either.

While judging championship games is not yet my favorite part of being a Professor, the players seem grateful for the opportunity to come and play. Generally speaking nobody is giving me a very hard time for how I run their tournaments. Like my players, who are often far more experienced, I have to be up for the challenge.

When we unlock League Cups, this very formal process of running tournaments is going to get a whole lot bigger. We can do this!

If you’re reading this and you’re a player, I want to say: Thank you for showing up for League and making our success possible.